The snow had stopped, leaving the entire world blanketed in white, dazzling to the eyes.
Hua Jie woke up early in the morning. Today, she couldn’t listen to English words or practice her early morning writing; instead, she went out and quickly swept a small path in the yard.
While she was at it, she built a large snowman, round and endearingly honest in appearance.
When she returned to the house, everyone else had already gotten up and was freshening up in their respective bathrooms.
Hua Jie then ducked into the kitchen to make breakfast. Hearing a noise, she turned around to see Shen Mo coming down to drink some water. This was the first time she saw him with his hair not so smooth, sticking up awkwardly.
Shen Mo met her gaze and suddenly remembered the dream he had last night, a suspicious blush creeping across his face.
“Morning.” He muttered a greeting and turned to gulp down some warm water, then hurriedly went back upstairs.
Ten minutes later, three men were seated around the table.
The table was set with steaming breakfast: delicate and bouncy egg custard dotted with a few drops of sesame oil and sprinkled with chopped green onions, steaming, golden corn, rice porridge of just the right consistency, two dishes of pickles, and a large plate of water-fried dumplings with a layer of crispy crust at the bottom…
Just looking at it was especially tempting.
“This is my first time eating water-fried dumplings in Jinsong,” Shen Jiaru remarked as he picked up a dumpling.
“Ah, just put some oil in a frying pan, then add frozen dumplings, fry them briefly, pour in water mixed with cornstarch to two-thirds the height of the dumplings, cover with a lid and let it cook for a while, then open the lid and let it boil on high heat to thicken the sauce. Once it’s completely dried out, the water and cornstarch at the bottom will turn into a crust sticking to the soft dumplings, crispy and very tasty,” Hua Jie shared her cooking enthusiasm.
“…”
“…”
“…”
The three men were bewildered.
“Mm, not bad,” Shen Jiaru said.
“Fried really well,” Zhao Xiaolei added.
“…Good,” Shen Mo said, glancing at Zhao Xiaolei and then at his father, tugging at the words.
“Hahaha,” Hua Jie laughed dryly.
The three men’s vocabulary in praising food was as limited as they come.
Luckily, they were eating with great relish, giving her a great sense of accomplishment.
As they were leaving, Shen Mo saw the snowman in the yard and added two upward-curved branches to its mouth, fitting for its silly smile.
Turning to look at Hua Jie, indeed, the young girl was smiling sweetly as Zhao Xiaolei loaded her bicycle into the trunk, her smile as beaming as that of the chubby snowman.
“Look! You two could pass for twins,” Shen Mo said, pulling over the little girl who was following behind Zhao Xiaolei. He pointed at the snowman.
With her big, double-lidded eyes and tender, rosy cheeks, how could this adorable young girl look anything like this ugly snowman?
Hua Jie stared at the snowman’s silly face and turned to retort:
“Nonsense! They don’t look alike at all! Are you face-blind?”
“…” Shen Mo.
…
Early in the morning, employees from various government agencies were once again assembled to shovel snow on the main roads.
Zhao Xiaolei drove Hua Jie first to her mother’s workplace at the bathhouse to retrieve her backpack, then took a detour to drop off the two children at City No. 1 High School.
Shen Mo got off the car midway to rent books from a bookstore not far from the school, leaving only the driver Zhao Xiaolei and little Hua Jie in the car.
The car crunched over the snow-covered ground, a sound Hua Jie had always loved since childhood.
When she was younger, she would find a patch of snow and crunch it under her feet, delighting in the sound of the snow, happy to endure the cold and play for hours without wanting to go home.
She couldn’t resist rolling down the window, closing her eyes to listen to the world’s symphony of snow being compressed—some by footsteps, some by car tires.
Accompanied by the noisy voices of people shoveling snow and the playful laughter of children having snowball fights on their way to school, it felt like the most humanly symphony in the mundane world.
How wonderful.
The vast, bustling world.
…
Students braved the snowy paths to school; those who lived far took the bus, and those not so far walked.
After all, in this icy, snowy weather, it wasn’t really possible to ride bicycles.
Bian Ying and the chemistry class representative walked hand in hand on the path cleared by others, talking about what they had bought and done over the weekend—
“I bought a new pair of pants on Saturday; flared pants are really in style this year. My cousin who studies in Beijing even called me specifically to suggest we wear them together,” said the chemistry class representative.
“I noticed them too while shopping. Let’s go to the newly opened Wenzhou City next Saturday to buy some,” Bian Ying suggested.
“Why do they call it Wenzhou City? Where’s Wenzhou? Is it in the northeast too?”
“I don’t know, they’ve dedicated a whole street in the city center for selling clothes. They’ve hung big signs at both ends of the street, calling it Wenzhou City, quite grand.”
“Let’s go on Saturday then. Maybe we could be the first ones in our class to have shopped for clothes there, haha,” the chemistry class representative fantasized ambitiously.
“Definitely, you are the fashion expert after all.”
“Haha, hey, have you noticed? Hua Jie always wears her school uniform, and the backs of her shoes are all scuffed up. Do you think her family is too poor to afford other clothes?” Knowing Bian Ying disliked Hua Jie, the chemistry class representative often brought up Hua Jie when they ran out of topics, a surefire way to excite Bian Ying.
Sure enough, Bian Ying immediately responded, “Exactly, they’re poor. She can’t even afford a hair clip, looks so shabby and smells so bad.”
“Hahaha.” The chemistry class representative couldn’t help but laugh out loud, feeling a sense of superiority from her wealth.
As the two of them were giggling and gossiping about how destitute Hua Jie was, suddenly a tall, thin boy brushed past them.
Bian Ying glanced over and immediately stopped her conversation with the chemistry class representative, hesitating for a moment before calling out softly:
“Yu Tonglin~”
Her voice was gentle, and her expression returned to one of serene composure.
The boy who had walked past them looked back, but his lips were pressed tightly together, and he didn’t speak.
“Hey, why haven’t you been talking to me lately?” Bian Ying hurried a few steps to catch up to him, looking up at him with a pitiful expression.
Ever since she told Yu Tonglin that Hua Jie had taken her position as the exercise leader, and he had questioned Hua Jie, leading to her blowing up in public, he hadn’t spoken to her again.
“…” Yu Tonglin didn’t look back again, acting as if he hadn’t heard her, ignoring her completely.
“Are you still mad at me? I was told before that I was supposed to be the exercise leader, but then it suddenly changed to Hua Jie. I thought she took it from me… Maybe I misunderstood her, but I didn’t mean it, Yu Tonglin—” Bian Ying’s voice grew softer and began to crack, sounding especially pitiful.
Yu Tonglin was almost about to turn back and comfort her, but then he remembered the multiple conflicts he had with Hua Jie, all of which had Bian Ying’s instigations behind them. Although he hadn’t fully figured out what was going on, he vaguely felt like he had been manipulated and played.
So, he immediately became cautious and said defensively:
“Don’t talk to me anymore.”
With that, he increased his pace and soon left Bian Ying behind.
“…” Bian Ying stood frozen in place, unable to believe that Yu Tonglin would treat her this way.
In the past, no matter what happened, as long as she spoke softly and acted coyly, he would always come around and comfort her.
How could it be different now…
It must be something Hua Jie said to him!
Biting her lower lip, she stopped chasing after him, just staring at Yu Tonglin’s retreating figure, her eyes sharp as daggers.
“…” The chemistry class representative adjusted her glasses and walked up to Bian Ying, linking arms with her. Feeling the chilling atmosphere, she was just about to say something comforting when suddenly a black car drove past them.
She exclaimed, unable to suppress her urge to show off her broad knowledge:
“Bian Ying, look quick, that’s a Mercedes, you know, the kind you see in those Taiwanese novels.”
“…” Bian Ying also shifted her gaze to the black sedan.
The car was driving slowly, its trunk not fully closed, with a bicycle stuffed inside.
“It looks like it’s going to stop right in
front of our school. Wow, whose family is it? They must be rich to drive to school!” The chemistry class representative quickened her pace, eager to get a closer look.
In this era, not many people in the city owned private cars, and even fewer drove luxury vehicles.
“I’m so envious.” Bian Ying finally snapped out of the gloomy mood caused by Yu Tonglin’s disdain, her face showing envy as she looked at the car. Although her family was well-off, her parents thought it unnecessary to own a car in a small city.
“In this heavy snow, my feet are freezing; I can’t even feel my toes anymore. It would be so nice to have a car to ride in,” the chemistry class representative stomped her feet.
“Yes—” Bian Ying had just finished responding when her next words stuck in her throat, unable to come out.
Because she saw the car stop at the school gate, and a person in an ugly, old down jacket and school uniform pants with short bobbed hair stepped out from the back seat…
It was Hua Jie.
It was actually Hua Jie!
“…” The chemistry class representative was also stunned as she watched Hua Jie pull a backpack out of the car, sling it over her shoulder, and close the car door.
Then a tall, thin young man got out from the driver’s seat, went to the trunk to take out the bicycle, and placed it on the ground, pushing it in front of Hua Jie. The two laughed and said goodbye. The man watched Hua Jie enter the school gate before returning to the driver’s seat and slowly driving the car away…
For the rest of the walk to the school gate, neither Bian Ying nor her companion spoke a word; they kept their faces stern, unable to say anything.
If there’s anything more frustrating than seeing your enemy doing well, it’s realizing that you have foolishly expressed envy without knowing the full story.
“So infuriating.”
“She’s so poor, how could her family possibly afford a car. Who is that man? Hua Jie must be kept by someone!” The chemistry class representative finally came up with a comment that would put Hua Jie down again as they crossed the school gate.
“…” Bian Ying pursed her lips, her eyes dark, not responding.
“She looks so plain, and yet someone is keeping her, shameless!” The chemistry class representative became more animated as she spoke.